Giroir on Changing Definition of Fully Vaccinated: Our Goal Isn’t to Stop People ‘From Ever Getting the Sniffles’

On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Evening Edit,” former HHS Assistant Secretary Adm. Brett Giroir reacted to White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci arguing that the definition of fully vaccinated will change by stating that the goal isn’t “to eliminate everyone from ever getting the sniffles. It’s really to keep you out of the hospital and out of serious illnesses.” And that we need a lot more information before changing the standard for full vaccination.

Host Elizabeth MacDonald asked, [relevant remarks begin around 3:35] “The media raised a five-alarm fire on the Omicron variant. The CDC, though, says only one in 43 known Omicron cases in the U.S. have been hospitalized, almost all the rest had mild symptoms. We have researchers in South Africa saying that too. But now we have the leaders of Pfizer and BioNTech talking about multiple doses equal one full vaccination, meaning it could be three doses or four. And Dr. Fauci is saying it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when the definition of fully vaccinated changes. What is your word on that?”

Giroir responded, “My word on that is we still have a lot more to know. And remember, our goal is not — look, if I got the sniffles for one day and had no long-term effects, that’s not a vaccine failure. That’s not our goal to eliminate everyone from ever getting the sniffles. It’s really to keep you out of the hospital and out of serious illnesses. Right now, we need to be concerned about it. But the vaccines are holding up. It may not be perfect protection. But people are not in the hospital, they’re not dying. Of course, there are going to be people who are hospitalized with Omicron, particularly the elderly where vaccine protection has worn off and those with a lot of comorbid conditions. That will happen, but don’t get alarmed.”

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